For Fxxk's Sake

All tracks recorded 8th March, 1980 at the Capitol Theater in Passaic, New Jersey.

Track listing

Clash City Rockers

Brand New Cadillac

Safe European Home

Jimmy Jazz

London Calling

Guns of Brixton

Train In Vain

(White Man) in Hammersmith Palais

Koka Kola

I Fought the Law

Spanish Bombs

Police And Thieves

Stay Free

Julie's Been Working For The Drug Squad

Wrong 'Em Boyo

Clampdown [edited]

Janie Jones

Complete Control

Armagideon Time/English Civil War

Garageland

Bankrobber

Tommy Gun

Review

According to blackmarketclash.com, the CD is taken from a mono soundboard
source. The sound is very clear, overall' excellent mix between all vocals
and instruments. The sound is very consistent throughout, though there are
a few problem areas, specifically in the form of low feedback/distortion
which momentarily impacts the start of a few songs (such as Spanish Bombs
)--Mick's many, MANY effect pedals might be the cause of this.
Nonetheless, these distortions are brief and do not detract from the
overall enjoyment of any of the songs.

The show begins with the fading play-in of '16 Tons' and Joe stating the
obvious: 'I'm not sure, but I think it's Saturday night in New Jersey!'
The foursome routinely perform the first three, well known songs'in truth,
the band here sounds slightly lethargic, especially in Clash City Rockers
(perhaps due to the prior night's N.Y.C. performance).

For Jimmy Jazz, Mickey Gallager joins the group on keyboards (Joe: 'I bet
you'I bet you ain't got that bird machine. And who said no bird can
sing?') and the show, in all honesty, really begins. Joe, seemingly
inspired, adds many adlibs: 'Police came in for Mr. Jazz, say we know all
the details, in fact they said we just wondered if you could spell it out
one time' we're cruising down the highway, doing 95 and hear a siren coming
2 O'clock (Mick makes siren sound on guitar) .. I said straight up pardner,
I don't have a clue, where this guy is or what he's done, sure, search me!'

Throughout the remainder of the night, Mickey plays brilliantly on all the
songs. He sounds very much at ease performing with the group (than he had,
for example, in the September 1979 show at the Palladium in New York). No
longer content to add merely basic, filler, 'Hammond organ-style' chords,
Mickey's right hand is very much in the limelight tonight, frequently
trading lead licks with Mick. (In all honesty, if you do not care for a
large dose of keyboards with your Clash performance, then this is probably
not the disc for you!)

It's clear the audience is very familiar with the recent London Calling
album: Paul's simple announcement of "Guns of Brixton!' is met by a big
cheer, while Joe's cry (at the start of Koka Kola) of 'Elevator...' prompts
an audience reply of "goooooing up!' Koka Kola, as it often did, nicely
leads into I Fought the Law which, sadly, is one of the less-inspired
numbers of the night (and the one most plagued by amplifier distortion).

What follows is perhaps the funniest moment of the night: before Spanish
Bombs, Joe'perhaps sensing the lukewarm last number'encourages audience and
band alike to greater heights: 'Let's have a general livening up session'
Us, too!' Unfortunately, he follows this by beginning the song with the
wrong verse. Whoops! (While some lyrical mistakes during a show are
understandable, I have no idea how Joe would forget to begin Spanish Bombs
with 'Spanish'', choosing rather 'The Hillside''!) Mick's effect-drenched
solo makes up very nicely for this, followed by a fast-paced and powerful
Police and Thieves.

Something in the crowd must have then caught Mick's eye, for he prefaces
Stay Free with 'Smart, real smart' For the rest of you, this number is
called' Stay Free'. It's an energetic, inspired performance, and the
keyboards nicely add a sense of 'fullness' to the song.

By this point the show is really in swing (as the increasingly loud cheers
between songs indicate). The next two numbers'Julie's Been Working' and
Wrong 'Em Boyo'are simply excellent! Topper and Mickey are really in their
comfort zone with Julie'a very bluesy, funky performance'while the whole
group sears through Boyo (especially the intro-'Stagger' part).

This, then, leads to the sole tragedy of this very good CD: Clampdown. The
tragedy lies not in the performance (it is amazing!); instead, it is simply
in the fact that this song is SEVERLY EDITED (clocking in at just 2:01!).
The song jumps at 1:43 from the bridge (right after "it's the best
years") to the very end! Truly, a tragic loss!

Janie Jones follows, with a unique 'electric piano' sounding keyboard part
from Mickey adding a new (and not completely unwelcome) dimension to the
classic. Mick adds (yet another) pedal to the mix in a blistering Complete
Control (though its first verse is also bothered by feedback/distortion),
and the opening set concludes with Joe's terse mumble of 'Thank you.'

Time for the encore, and Mikey Dread joins the band on stage for Armagideon
Time (though his vocals are quite low in the mix' perhaps accidentally,
perhaps not). At 4:44 of the seven minute track, the tune morphs into
English Civil War (another lively performance). The remaining tracks,
though not distinctly memorable, are all strong performances to close the
show.

In all, a very clear, enjoyable CD to listen to (despite being in mono).
With a complete version of Clampdown, this disc would easily warrant a
rating of 9 out of 10. But, with the stump of that classic song we have
here, I can only give it a (very high) eight.